JUNE 11, 2011

Teams debate stoppage rules

The anticlimactic finish to the Monaco Grand Prix has led to calls for a change to the regulations in the event of a race being red-flagged in future.

With the three leading drivers all running different tyre strategies in the closing stages at Monaco, and the race finely poised, the ability to repair cars and fit new tyres on the grid before the restart, effectively neutralised a potentially absorbing finish.

Pirelli were among those suggesting that the rule could be rethought with a discussion on the agenda in Montreal.

Ferrari's Pat Fry said that the ability to change tyres and work on cars is sensible when they have evidently been driven through debris, as was the case in Monaco. Williams technical director Sam Michael echoed that, adding: "I can see it from the fans point of view as well but it's not something that happens very often and it will probably be a long time until it happens again. It can go both ways and it's difficult to get a rule that covers all the bases."

McLaren's Paddy Lowe, however, argued that a solution is worth pursuing. "The more you can preserve a race that reflects what the spectators were looking at, the better," he said. "Maybe with some way of having to show that a tyre is damaged (before it can be changed)."